DE 10 2010 006 642 A1 discloses a method and a system for controlling an internal combustion engine. The description covers determining a torque reserve and/or a rotational speed reserve. To this end, the torque reserve and/or the rotational speed reserve is determined based on a measured speed of an engagement and/or release of a clutch element which is connected to the internal combustion engine. As a result, the problem of start-up deficiency can be reduced despite a low consumption of the internal combustion engine.